The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
